“Tell me,” he said, his hand gently rubbing my back.
“He was big on the respect thing. And the discipline thing. He made it clear he thought Mom had let us run wild and he set out to ‘tame’ us.” I took another moment to allow the hatred I felt for the man to rise and then die down enough I could speak.
“He took that ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ thing to the max. He used any excuse to hit me or Brandon. I tried to tell Mom, but she wouldn’t listen. I don’t know if she just chose to ignore what was in front of her, or if he convinced her we were so bad we needed violent treatment to keep us in line. The worst wasn’t the beatings, though. The worst was him saying over and over and over we’d never amount to anything. That we couldn’t be successful because we had our father’s blood in our veins.”
I looked into Jake’s horrified eyes. “That’s why I worked so hard to make good grades, to go to Columbia, to land a job at a D.C. magazine. I wanted to show him I was somebody.”
“You
are
somebody, honey. You are a very, very special lady, not to mention one hell of a photographer.” He pulled me close. “Look, Margaret can manage the store from here. Maybe I’ll even sell the place. There’s got to be something I can do in D.C.”
“You’d never be happy there.” I put a hand against Jake’s cheek, luxuriating in the roughness of his five o’clock shadow. “The truth is I hate D.C. and I never liked that job. I took it to prove I could, but I don’t care anymore what my mom or stepdad thinks. I didn’t realize how much I missed small town life until I came here.”
A smile began to pull at Jake’s sexy, yummy lips. “So, you think you might be happy in a town called Ugly Creek?”
I felt my own smile grow on my face. “I’m beginning to think this is the only place I
could
be happy. I love this town. And I love you.”
He pulled me close and we spent time doing some good old-fashioned necking. Then, we went to bed and did even more.
****
By noon the next day, most of the town was gathered in a clearing in the middle of nowhere. The woods were thick around us, we’d had to walk more than a mile to get there—though four-wheelers were used for those who couldn’t make the trip and for some of the bulkier supplies. “The entire area will be cleaned up later,” Jake told me. “The cleaners know what they’re doing, too. It’ll be impossible to know this event took place here.”
I settled back in one of the lawn chairs we’d brought with us. “Do the Bigfeet…I mean the Dyami, live near here?”
Jake sat in the other chair and stretched out his long legs. “No, they live in caves you wouldn’t see the entrance to if you were right in front of one.”
“No wonder they’ve never been proven to exist.”
He grinned. “It’s a real conspiracy.”
I wasn’t in such a lighthearted mood. “I almost blew the whole thing wide open.”
“Not you.”
“Brandon.” I picked a bit of lint off my shorts. “Using a photo I took. I used personal info to lock the computer and the file, something not recommended.”
Jake squeezed my hand. “You took a picture of something amazing. You locked it on your laptop. You couldn’t have known your brother would break into your computer. ”
“I still feel bad about the whole thing.”
“That caring heart of yours is why I love you.” That expression, the one he had on his face as he leaned in to kiss me. Wow! I was one lucky woman.
“Would you like some iced tea?” he asked.
“Sure.” I watched him go toward the long table, covered with food and drinks. Handsome, well-built, a rear that could inspire poetry. Yum.
“I told you that you belonged here.”
I turned to smile at Aunt Octavia. She was dressed in a pink jogging outfit, and was barefoot. I started to ask what that was about, but before I could, she spoke, “I have a message from your father.”
I swallowed hard. All of a sudden I understood what made Jake uncomfortable with Auntie’s messages. “Is he dead?” I asked.
“Yes, he has passed beyond our plane of existence,” she said. “But don’t mourn him. His only regret was he couldn’t be there for his children. He wishes a wonderful life for you, and hopes soon his son will also find happiness.”
I felt a touch on my shoulder and turned to see Brandon standing beside me. “I’m really sorry, sis.”
I popped out of the chair and grabbed him with everything I was worth, convinced that as soon as I touched him he’d back away, but instead he pulled me into a warm, snug, welcome hug. “I missed you,” I told him.
“I missed you too.” He gave me a little breathing room, and I looked up into red, tear-filled eyes. “I was such an idiot,” he said.
“I’m sorry I left you with him.”
“You couldn’t take me with you.” He swiped at his wet face. “I knew that when you left, but I resented you for leaving me anyway. I’m just glad you got out of there.”
“I love you, Brandon. It almost killed me to leave my little brother with that monster, but I thought I had to go to Columbia. I thought I had to show him I could be somebody.”
“I’m proud of you, sis. I’m proud of your good grades, that you went to Columbia, that you have a great job. I always knew you were an amazing photographer, now the world knows too.”
I swallowed. “Um, Brandon, I’m not going back to D.C. I’m going to stay here in Ugly Creek.”
A slow smile pulled at Brandon’s lips, revealing that cute dimple in his right cheek, the one the girls always went crazy over. “It’s that guy isn’t it? That Jake guy Butch is so crazy jealous of.”
“Jake’s definitely part of the reason, but there are others. Like how much I hate living in a big city. And how I actually miss small town life. Do you believe it?”
“Yeah, I do.” He looked around him. “Besides, this place is really special. There’s something different here.”
“Besides the Bigfoot family?”
He laughed, and the sound spilled through me like a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. “It’s been years since I’ve heard you laugh,” I said.
“You’ll hear it more, because I intend to keep in contact with you this time.”
“Why didn’t you return my calls?”
He looked down, chewing on his bottom lip as he did. “William convinced me you didn’t care about me.”
White-hot fury impaled me. “I’ll kill that son of a monkey butt’s flea!”
My tall, handsome little brother put a steadying hand on my shoulder. “He’s not worth it, sis.”
I took a long, deep breath. He was right. Murder, as nice as the thought might be, was not the answer.
Suddenly I remembered my manners. “Brandon, this is…” I turned to see nothing but foliage. “Where did she go?”
I heard footsteps and realized Jake had just walked up. He had three glasses of cold iced tea. He handed me one then held out the second to Brandon. “We haven’t actually been introduced. I’m Jake Blackwood.”
Brandon took the glass and held out his other hand to shake Jake’s. “I’m sure you know I’m Brandon, Buff…
Stephie
’s brother.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Jake, have you seen Aunt Octavia?”
He shook his head. “She’s not here today. She told Margaret she was going to an out-of-body workshop in Nashville.”
I stared at him, wondering if I was honestly losing my mind. Thankfully, Jake didn’t notice, he’d already turned to Brandon. “I’ll bet you have some interesting stories of Stephie as a kid.”
Brandon grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
I groaned, but the truth was I was so dang glad to have my little brother back in my life I didn’t much care what he told Jake.
“You bad man,” a husky voice said. “Ms. Margaret home. You went.”
We all turned to find the little Bigfoot…um Dyami behind Brandon.
“You’re right,” Brandon said to the little guy, who came up to Brandon’s shoulder. “It was wrong of me to go into her house without permission. I told her I’m sorry, and she asked me to help her with some things to make up for what I did.”
“He’s not a bad man, Abukcheech,” Jake said. “He did a bad thing because someone convinced him it was the right thing to do.”
The little creature scrunched up his leathery forehead. “Not bad?”
“No, he just did a bad thing.”
“I take doll. Cousin cry.”
I saw Jake’s lips quirk, but he held on to his stern expression. “That’s right. You aren’t a bad person, but that wasn’t a nice thing to do. Was it?”
“No.” The little creature looked down for a minute, then toward Brandon. “Baseball. I learn?”
“I would love to teach you.”
Brandon and the little Bigfoot took off toward a cleared and flattened area.
I glanced toward the house and saw Margaret and a Bigfoot talking together. Surprisingly, the Bigfoot, I mean Dyami, had on a dress. “They wear clothes?”
“Mostly for the sake of humans. They think it’s strange we’re so easily embarrassed,” Jake said. “Besides, in the forest it would be too easy to spot them.”
I studied the dress-wearing creature and realized it had much more delicate features than either of the other Dyami I’d seen.
“That’s Chepi, Nootau’s wife.”
To one side, the Bigfoot who’d had a gun held on him—Nootau—was talking and laughing with some of the men from town. He caught sight of Chepi and went over to her. He kissed her on the ear, and she turned and smiled at him. I saw the look in their eyes, the look of true love, of forever after.
“Surreal,” I whispered.
“Think you could live in a surreal world?”
I smiled. “I’m not sure I could live in the regular world. Not anymore.”
I caught a glimpse of movement in the trees to my left and turned that way. A tiny creature stepped into view, about three feet high, gray skin, huge eyes and a small slit for a mouth. I instinctually reached for my camera, but in mid-motion I thought better of it and waved toward the critter instead. It waved back, then as quickly as it appeared it disappeared into the woods.
“Good choice,” Jake said.
I smiled. “I’m learning.”
He ran a fingertip down my cheek. “Good, because I want you here with me.”
“I seem to have fallen in love with both a man and a town.”
Then I was in his arms and he was kissing me like I’d never been kissed before. When we came up for air, I looked deep into his eyes. “There are some things I need to take care of first. Things back home in Alabama.”
“What do you think your folks will think of me?”
I felt happiness wash over me. “I don’t really care. They’re stuck with you whether they like it or not. For a long, long, long time.”
Jake chuckled as he pulled me close again.
“Get a room,” Maddie’s voice called.
“Later,” Jake whispered. And I smiled with anticipation.
A word about the author...
Cheryel Hutton talks to dragons. Thing is, they talk to her too, telling her stories of witches, werewolves, Bigfoot creatures, fairies, and vampires. Then there are the stories of evil humans—and they are the scariest stories of all.
Cheryel, her family, and two dachshunds live in Chattanooga, TN. The South is known for odd corners where the impossible sometimes comes to life. Cheryel loves to visit those places when she isn't working on her next novel.
Cheryel is also the author of
The Keepers of Legend
, published by The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
More info about Cheryel and her stories can be found on her website:
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